Help and Advice Needed PLEASE

[antz02]

Can anyone please offer any help Im interested in starting this as a Hobby but Im not sure what sort of Telescope to purchase.

I live on the 1st floor of a masonette and have a balcony.

I would like to look at the sky at night and also be able to take photos of what we see. Also any idea of cost?

I look forward to Any Help And Advice. I will await to hear from you.

Anthony.

[Rick]

First off, before you spend money on a telescope, try to get along to a few observing evenings, and see what sorts of scopes folk use. There're usually a good selection of scopes brought along, and the society has a couple of its own too.

Observing from a balcony is going to be tricky, and you won't get the best of views, though that shouldn't stop you. You'd be best off, if you have to observe from a fairly confined space, with a small catadioptric like the Meade ETX, but they're quite expensive. However, cheap scopes of that sort of size usually aren't worth buying.

If the balcony's quite large and not covered then you might have enough room to use a standard newtonian reflector. For visual observing a dobsonian mount would be fine, but for photography you might need an equatorial mount. Either way you'd get more aperture for your money than with a Meade.

[Greg]

yes, come along to one of our observing sessions - you will be most welcome. Where abouts to do you live?